


Baby's First Christmas (AKA The Night Before Christmas)

by rainbow_nerds



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Christmas, Feelings, Gen, cute but might break your heart ngl
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-25
Updated: 2015-12-25
Packaged: 2018-05-09 05:58:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5528639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainbow_nerds/pseuds/rainbow_nerds
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house...<br/>Their first Christmas as a family may not have been in ideal circumstances, but they were determined to make the most of it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Baby's First Christmas (AKA The Night Before Christmas)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sara Winch - My Geekycon Secret Santa](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Sara+Winch+-+My+Geekycon+Secret+Santa).



> This is my gift to my Geekycon Secret Santa! Really hope you enjoy, Sara <3

 

 “’Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house,  
 Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse…”

The baby lay in his crib, smiling up at his mother without a care in the world. As far as he knew, this was just a day like any other. As his mother read her favourite childhood story to him, unaware of the amused looks his father was sending over, having never heard the classic muggle tale before.

This was their first Christmas as a family, and they were determined to keep it cheerful.

“… The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,  
in hopes that Saint Nicholas soon would be there…”

They had invited their friends over for Christmas Eve. They saw each other often, as the young couple relied on them for news from the outside world. At least once a week, the old school friends would visit the Potter home, stories of the war and those who had been lost being shared all too often.

Today, however, the house had been full of joy, without any mentions of the atrocities happening outside their walls. The tree was lit, and everyone had been smiling together, for what felt like the first time since they had left school. Something about the young child had infused this Christmas with a new feeling of hope for the future.

“…The children were nestled all snug in their beds,  
While visions of sugar plums danced in their heads...”

Harry was beginning to doze off, but Lily kept reading as James came to stand beside her, resting a hand on her shoulder. The day had started quite hectic, but they wouldn’t have it any other way.

“…And Mama in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,  
had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap.  
When out on the roof there arose such a clatter,  
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter….”

They had been asleep, all three of them, when there was a crash from downstairs. James immediately grabbed his wand and went to investigate. Lily lifted Harry from his crib and went to follow.

“Away to the window I flew like a flash,  
tore open the shutter, and threw up the sash.”

They crept through the house, searching for the source of the noise. If someone could get into their home, then that meant the fidelius charm was down. They were preparing to apparate in fear, when it happened.

“…The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow  
gave the lustre of midday to objects below,  
when, what to my wondering eyes should appear,  
but a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer…”

When they saw the cause of the sound, James had to laugh. In the living room, the tree was flat on the ground, their tabby cat Minnie (Lily had tried to argue, but now the cat wouldn’t answer to anything else), sat on top of it, licking her paws. It was barely six a.m., but they were awake now, so Lily put harry down to play on the floor, while going to take the cat off the tree and fix any damage with a wave of her wand. James went to the kitchen to make coffee, and was met with the cause of the cat’s behaviour.

“…With a little old driver, so lively and quick,  
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick…”

Sirius stood at the table, dressed in a bright red hat and coat, his stubble and long hair transfigured into a bushy white beard, and holding so many gifts that he looked like the real thing. When lily walked in to investigate the cause of James’ uncontrollable laughter, she froze, and immediately joined him. Before long all three of them were bent double, and Harry had even started giggling too, attempting to pull Sirius’ beard when he was picked up.

“…More rapid than eagles, his coursers they came,  
and he whistled and shouted and called them by name:

‘Now Dasher! Now Dancer!  
Now, Prancer and Vixen!  
On, Comet! On, Cupid!  
On, Donner and Blitzen!  
To the top of the porch!  
To the top of the wall!  
Now dash away! Dash away!  
Dash away all!’”

They ate breakfast together happily, Sirius ridding himself of the beard in order to eat, but keeping the rest of the costume on. By the time they had finished eating, both Remus and Peter had arrived and ate their fill as well. The repaired Christmas tree was almost obscured by the presents under and around it – Harry was truly spoiled by the adults in his life.

“…As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,  
when they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky  
so up to the house-top the coursers they flew,  
with the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too…”

Remus had been quite tired, as the full moon was only a few days before. It had been a particularly difficult one, as the cold December air always made his stiff joints ache post-transformation. As such, the day was quiet and relaxed, singing Christmas carols and watching harry play with the toys which they couldn’t resist letting him open early. The casual, easy camaraderie was something which had existed between the marauders since they were eleven years old, and once James and Lily got together in their seventh year at Hogwarts, she fit into the group as though she had always been there.

“…And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof  
the prancing and pawing of each little hoof.  
As I drew in my head and was turning around,  
down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound…”

Shortly after they had eaten lunch, Dumbledore flooed in to pay a visit. It was strangely like being at Hogwarts for Christmas, as he even brought a pie made by the house elves at Hogwarts, which was devoured within the first minute of his visit.

“…He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,  
and his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.  
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,  
and he looked like a peddler just opening his pack…”

As well as the pie, he had brought a hand knitted blanket for Harry, and a gift from Minerva (a cat toy, which they knew better than to question. She had a strange bond with her namesake that nobody had anticipated, but everyone accepted.)He stayed for about an hour, before heading back to Hogwarts with a few gifts they had bought for him.

“…His eyes--how they twinkled! His dimples, how merry!  
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!  
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,  
and the beard on his chin was as white as the snow.”

After Dumbledore had left, Sirius and Remus set to work preparing the dinner. James and Lily sat together, watching Peter play with Harry with a smile on their faces. He was transforming into his animagus form and running around the room, Harry crawling behind and attempting to catch him. Every time he came close, Harry would reach out with a squeal of laughter, and Peter would allow himself to be grabbed, only to dart out again, tail whipping behind some piece of furniture and the game would start again.

“…The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,  
and the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.  
He had a broad face and a little round belly,  
that shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly…”

Dinner was served early, and they all sat around the table, laughing at the food covering Harry’s face, and telling stories of the Christmases they shared as children. It was five in the evening, when James and Sirius found themselves out in the back garden, standing in a companionable silence and smoking. After about five minutes of this, James spoke up.

“It’s hard to believe, isn’t it?

“What’s that Prongsie?”

“That there’s a war going on.” He paused to take another drag from the cigarette in his hand. “I just feel so helpless shut in here all the time. I want to fight. I want to _help._ ”

“You’re no good to anybody dead, James. Think of Harry. If something were to happen to you, He…” His sentence drifted off, but they both knew what Sirius had been about to say. They didn’t want Harry growing up without a father.

“…He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,  
and I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself.  
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head  
soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread…”

When they got back inside, Harry had been dressed in his Christmas pyjamas, a onesie which resembled the Santa suit Sirius wore. His chubby face poked out from the top with a comical grin, and James’ heart melted. He knew he would never be able to leave this boy, as long as he could. They stayed up for another few hours, Sirius and Peter taking turns transforming to their animagus forms and entertaining the baby, until they were all yawning, and Harry was beginning to fuss with tiredness.

“…He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,  
and filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.  
And laying his finger aside of his nose,  
and giving a nod, up the chimney he rose…”

They didn’t want to leave, so Lily transfigured the couches into beds for them to stay over. The three guests were snuggled up in the living room, talking softly about everything and anything. James and Lily carried their son upstairs, and put him in his crib. He began to fuss, so Lily took down a battered and worn story book, the static images betraying its muggle origins. She began to read as James looked on, an expression of unashamed love on his face. By the last lines of the story, harry was fast asleep, little snores echoing around the room.

“…He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,  
and away they all flew like the down of a thistle.  
But I heard him exclaim, 'ere he drove out of sight,

‘Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!’”

The couple retired to bed, falling asleep almost immediately. Having a young child tends to make you treasure every bit of sleep you can get. The house was silent, save for the snuffling from Harry’s crib and the odd snore from downstairs.

It was their first Christmas together as a family.

Little did they know, it would also be their last.

 


End file.
